The Lord God's Design Part 2
Now, the Lord God made a covenant with Himself. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” It was then the Lord God spoke to Noah and began the process of re-establishing mankind on the earth. Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables."
This time, not only grains and vegetables were for food, but every moving thing. But, again, there were some exceptions: But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”
Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
Note that the covenant was between the Lord God and "all the creatures that dwell upon the earth". To this day, after the rain falls, a sign of the Lord God's covenant appears in the sky. It is better known to many as a rainbow. An eternal sign of God's covenant with mankind.
Because mankind was so corrupt, the Lord God wanted a people of His very own. He found that in the faith of Abram. Because of Abram's faith, the Lord God made a Covenant with Him. Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Please note that because of the corruption of mankind (meaning sin)/disobedience) the Lord God had to keep reminding Abram of His promise and of His Covenant He had made with him earlier. Why? Because the people of earth were wicked and full of unrighteousness. All of this came about through the disobedience of one man, Adam, when he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Keep in mind that the Lord God accredited Abram's faith in Him as righteousness. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
All of the Lord God's promises didn't happen at once; it was a process. In his test of faith in the Lord God's promise, Abram--now called Abraham--was reminded through an angel of that promise: Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
If the Lord God had to keep reminding Abraham of His Covenant, don't you think that in today's world, with all it's distractions and untruths, we should always stay in His Word? Those who don't are at risk of being distracted and deceived by the things of this world and even religious traditions.
All of our illnesses and misfortunes are due to the disobedience in eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A domino effect was the result of Eve's lack of focus on her husband's command. Adam failed to focus on his Creator's command. Remember, when the king speaks, it is not a suggestion, it is law. Obeying His Word isn't difficult. We have the power of choice. Eve should never have entertained that conversation or thought of even touching that tree.
Abraham listened to Sarai's choice in having a sexual relationship with Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant, as a way to "make the Lord God's promise happen". Sarai didn't believe the angel when he said that she would have a son. Again, man failed to embrace the Lord God's Word in faith and embraced his wife's advice. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. By the way, that disobedience is why the world is having the problems in the middle east and around the world.
Do you notice a pattern here? The evil one chose to approach the woman instead of the man in both cases. It is by design that the Lord God chose Adam (man) to lead and manage. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
That was the Lord God's original plan and design.
Genesis 8:20-22; 9:1-3, 4-17; 12:1-3; 15:1-6; 22:15-18; 16:1-4; 2:21-23 NLT
~~W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you
Back to part 1 Go to part 3
This time, not only grains and vegetables were for food, but every moving thing. But, again, there were some exceptions: But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”
Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
Note that the covenant was between the Lord God and "all the creatures that dwell upon the earth". To this day, after the rain falls, a sign of the Lord God's covenant appears in the sky. It is better known to many as a rainbow. An eternal sign of God's covenant with mankind.
Because mankind was so corrupt, the Lord God wanted a people of His very own. He found that in the faith of Abram. Because of Abram's faith, the Lord God made a Covenant with Him. Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Please note that because of the corruption of mankind (meaning sin)/disobedience) the Lord God had to keep reminding Abram of His promise and of His Covenant He had made with him earlier. Why? Because the people of earth were wicked and full of unrighteousness. All of this came about through the disobedience of one man, Adam, when he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Keep in mind that the Lord God accredited Abram's faith in Him as righteousness. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
All of the Lord God's promises didn't happen at once; it was a process. In his test of faith in the Lord God's promise, Abram--now called Abraham--was reminded through an angel of that promise: Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
If the Lord God had to keep reminding Abraham of His Covenant, don't you think that in today's world, with all it's distractions and untruths, we should always stay in His Word? Those who don't are at risk of being distracted and deceived by the things of this world and even religious traditions.
All of our illnesses and misfortunes are due to the disobedience in eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A domino effect was the result of Eve's lack of focus on her husband's command. Adam failed to focus on his Creator's command. Remember, when the king speaks, it is not a suggestion, it is law. Obeying His Word isn't difficult. We have the power of choice. Eve should never have entertained that conversation or thought of even touching that tree.
Abraham listened to Sarai's choice in having a sexual relationship with Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant, as a way to "make the Lord God's promise happen". Sarai didn't believe the angel when he said that she would have a son. Again, man failed to embrace the Lord God's Word in faith and embraced his wife's advice. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. By the way, that disobedience is why the world is having the problems in the middle east and around the world.
Do you notice a pattern here? The evil one chose to approach the woman instead of the man in both cases. It is by design that the Lord God chose Adam (man) to lead and manage. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
That was the Lord God's original plan and design.
Genesis 8:20-22; 9:1-3, 4-17; 12:1-3; 15:1-6; 22:15-18; 16:1-4; 2:21-23 NLT
~~W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you
Back to part 1 Go to part 3
